Trial set for ex-hockey pro accused of hiring wife's killer

BATH, N.Y. (AP) A murder trial is set to begin for a former professional hockey player accused of hiring a man to kill his wife and set fire to their house in New York.

Prosecutors say Thomas Clayton hired Michael Beard to kill 35-year-old Kelley Clayton in September 2015 in her home in rural Caton, on the Pennsylvania border near Elmira. Beard was convicted of first- and second-degree murder in November.

Clayton, who played for an Elmira minor league hockey team, told police he came home from a poker game to find his wife dead on the floor. His lawyer, Ray Schlather, says Clayton was not connected to his wife's murder in any way.